Chapter 3 - SIXTEEN SECONDS
Gabriel moved Eli into the panic room.
It was the safest room in the mansion.
Steel walls.
Independent ventilation.
Emergency communications.
No windows.
No outside access.
For years, Gabriel had believed the room would protect his son.
Now it felt like a prison.
Hannah sat beside Eli.
Gabriel stood outside.
His security team searched every room.
No intruder.
No forced entry.
No missing personnel.
Nothing.
Then Gabriel checked the cameras.
The hallway camera had been disabled for exactly sixteen seconds.
Again.
The same number.
His blood ran cold.
“Who has access?”
His head of security, Mason Reed, shook his head.
“Only me, you, Victor Hale and the system administrator.”
“Who is the administrator?”
“Ethan Cole.”
Hannah looked up.
Gabriel noticed.
“You know that name?”
She hesitated.
“He's my brother.”
Gabriel's hand moved toward his weapon.
Hannah immediately stood.
“No.”
“Your brother has access to my security system?”
“I didn't know.”
“That's convenient.”
“He works in cybersecurity.”
“Convenient.”
Hannah stepped closer.
“If Ethan wanted to hurt Eli, why would he warn me?”
Gabriel stopped.
“What did he tell you?”
“Nothing.”
“Then what are you hiding?”
Hannah's eyes filled with frustration.
“I was hired because I needed money.”
“By whom?”
“You.”
“Who recommended you?”
She didn't answer.
Gabriel's expression changed.
“Victor.”
Hannah nodded.
“Victor Hale contacted the agency.”
Silence.
Gabriel understood.
Victor had put Hannah inside his home.
The same Victor whose face appeared behind Claire's car.
His oldest adviser.
His most trusted man.
Gabriel walked to the nearest monitor.
“Pull every recording of Victor.”
Mason hesitated.
“Sir?”
“Every recording.”
The screens filled.
Victor entering the mansion.
Victor talking to Gabriel.
Victor speaking with doctors.
Victor standing near Eli.
Then one recording stopped Gabriel cold.
Victor entered Eli's room three weeks after the bombing.
He was alone.
He approached the bed.
Eli was unconscious.
Victor leaned down.
And whispered something.
Gabriel increased the volume.
Victor's voice came through.
“You should have died with her.”
Gabriel froze.
The recording continued.
Victor looked toward the camera.
Then smiled.
He knew.
He had always known.
He reached into his pocket.
A syringe appeared.
Gabriel's blood turned to ice.
Mason stared at the screen.
“Sir…”
Gabriel's voice was almost inaudible.
“Find him.”
Security scattered.
But Victor was already gone.
His house was empty.
His office was empty.
His cars were gone.
Every bank account connected to him had been emptied.
Gabriel returned to Eli.
The boy was awake.
“Dad?”
Gabriel sat beside him.
“I'm here.”
“Are you mad?”
“No.”
“You look mad.”
Gabriel swallowed.
“I am.”
“Is it because of me?”
The question destroyed him.
Gabriel looked at his son's face.
“No.”
Eli stared at him.
“Then why?”
Gabriel finally told the truth.
“Because I thought I could protect you.”
Eli's eyes lowered.
“You did.”
“No.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“I protected the house.”
Eli looked confused.
Gabriel continued.
“But I forgot to protect you.”
Hannah watched silently.
Gabriel reached for his son's hand.
Eli allowed him.
It was the first time in eleven months.
Then the monitor behind them flickered.
The control system had detected an old file.
A recording automatically restored from a corrupted archive.
Gabriel looked up.
The date was the night Claire died.
The camera showed Claire entering the library.
She was crying.
She looked directly into the lens.
Then she spoke.
“Gabriel, if you're watching this, I'm already dead.”
Gabriel couldn't breathe.
Claire continued.
“I need you to listen carefully.”
She placed a folder on the desk.
“Victor isn't working alone.”
Gabriel stared.
“There is someone inside your organization.”
Claire looked toward the door.
“And you know him.”
She whispered:
“He's the reason the cameras never showed you the truth.”
The recording ended.
Gabriel immediately searched the folder.
Inside were financial records.
Photographs.
Bank transfers.
A medical report.
And one final page.
A handwritten note.
The person responsible for the bombing has been paying for Eli's medical treatment.
Gabriel's stomach turned.
Someone who had tried to kill his family...
was also paying to keep his son alive.
Then another line appeared.
Because Eli is the only person who can expose him.
Gabriel looked toward his son.
Eli was asleep.
Hannah stood beside him.
Gabriel whispered:
“What does he know?”
Hannah's face went pale.
“Maybe he doesn't remember.”
Gabriel stared at her.
“Maybe he does.”
Then Eli opened his eyes.
He looked directly at Gabriel.
“Dad?”
“Yes?”
“I remember the car.”
Gabriel leaned closer.
“What car?”
“The black one.”
“What about it?”
Eli's voice trembled.
“The man inside gave Mom something.”
“What?”
“A phone.”
Gabriel's heart slammed.
“What did he say?”
Eli closed his eyes.
“He said…”
The boy stopped.
May you like
Gabriel waited.
“He said, ‘Your father will never believe you.’”
